ODDBALL RECALLS: Mazda6 vs. the yellow sac spider

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Not all recalls are created equal.
Many are initiated to address serious safety concerns. Others are issued to fix a minor compliance problem with federal safety standards.
Then there are some that are just bizarre. Here are some of the strange defects that have led automakers to call back their cars for repairs in the United States.-- Gabe Nelson, gnelson@crain.com

Mazda recalled 52,000 units of the 2009-10 Mazda6 sedan in 2011 after it discovered that an arachnid called the yellow sac spider was crawling into the car's evaporative canister vent line and weaving its web there. That was a problem because the spider webs could clog the vent line, causing air pressure in the fuel tank to drop low enough for the tank to rupture. To this day, it is unclear why the spiders infested Mazda's sedans and not, say, closely related Ford Fusions.